gyal

See also: Gyál

English

Etymology 1

Noun

gyal (plural gyals)

1. Alternative form of gayal (“Indian cattle”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Jamaican Creole gyal (“girl”)

Noun

gyal (plural gyals)

1. (MLE, MTE) Pronunciation spelling of girl.
   • 2006, “A Little Bit of Shhh”, in Vertically Challenged, performed by Lady Sovereign:

     It's cold: there's a new top gyal on road / Running t'ing, running t'ing, running t'ing – everything: oh, you've been told

   • 2019, “Vossi Bop”, performed by Stormzy:

     Man, I wouldn't even try my luck with her / Gyals say I'm boujee

Derived terms

• gyal dem

Anagrams

• -algy

Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

• gal

Etymology

Derived from English girl.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡʲal/
• Hyphenation: gyal

Noun

gyal (plural gyal dem, quantified gyal)

1. girl

   Nuh ramp wid har. A bad gyal dat.

   Don't mess around with her. That girl's tough.

   • 2007, Robert Lalah, “Portia's potable water - Hot topic in cool Manchester”, in The Jamaica Gleaner‎^[1] (in English):

     “"Gyal make haste wid di water nuh man! Why you one haffi have five bucket?" one woman shouted. She kicked aside a white bucket that was under the pipe and the water from the tank started to fall on the ground. "Do nuh take it out pan di water!" a woman standing nearby shouted hysterically. […] ”

Usage notes

As an interjection (e.g., "'Ey gyal!") the term can take on pejorative connotations and can be extremely offensive.

Further reading

• gyal at JamaicanPatwah.com
• gyal at majstro.com